The first inhabitants were the Arawaks (A.K.A Tainos) who came to the island 2,500 years ago. They grew many crops and led a quiet, peaceful life until the spaniards destroyed them years after Christopher Columbus discovered the island in 1494.
Christopher Columbus landed in Jamaica, called Xaymaca from the Arawaks, on his second trip to the West Indies. He found the Arawak Indians on the island and thought they were hostile when they tried to attack his men but soon Columbus, who was determined to claim the land, used enough force to call the land his own.
When the Spaniards came after Columbus, they tortured and killed the Arawaks to get the land and the Arawaks eventually died.
Jamaica served as a supply base for the Spaniards and they created small settlements that received little attention.
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The buccaneers took the English settlers gold, silver, and jewels to Port Royal, which was the wealthiest and wickedest city in the world and later destroyed by a violent earthquake.The English settlers wondered about growing crops that could be easily sold in England so they shipped Africans from the West Indies to fill the labor force needed. The slave trade was very popular but the slaves were unhappy so they rebelled in anyway they could. The regular slave rebellions was one of the factors that led to the abolition of slavery. Another factor included humanitarians who were concerned about the slaves well-being so they protested against it and formed an anti-slavery